Legacy
by DimensionalGate
Summary: After a near-fatal accident a young man with strange powers and a mysterious past recovers in the presence of the Teen Titans.
1. Beginnings

Legacy

Chapter One: Beginnings

Years ago, I never would have thought it possible for me to be in my current situation. I had a loving family and a place to call home. Not even two months ago, I would have thought that what happened to me would have been impossible. Now I a homeless orphan trying to find shelter in a city I have never been to.

I continued walking down the sidewalk, the rain splashing on the concrete as I passed. My long brown had adhered to my forehead and blocked much of my vision. I had been walking in the rain for hours. My feet ached, my clothing was soaking wet, and I was shivering uncontrollably. I honestly did not care anymore.

I found what I needed a few minutes later. An abandoned building stood next to a low-rent apartment building. I stepped through a broken window and into the cold, moldy concrete room which I assumed to be the basement. The building was old and stripped of anything I could possibly use to keep myself warm.

I sat down against the wall, closed my eyes, and hugged my knees into my chest. I had been traveling for days and was exhausted. I commenced to do the only thing that came to mind at the moment. I rested my head on the wall and fell asleep in seconds.

I lost track of what day it was a long time ago. I was mildly pleased to wake up to warmth. The rain had stopped, the sun had come out, and the concrete had begun to absorb heat. My jeans were crusted with dirt from days of travel, my white tank top was stained and faded, and the closest thing I had to a shower was a dunk in a river that I passed days ago.

I climbed out of the window and slowly brought myself to a standing position - something that took a great deal of effort. I stepped onto the sidewalk and started to contemplate how I was going to get the food and water my body needed to survive. A mother and daughter walked past me on the street. The little girl looked at me and slowed down, she started to get pulled by her mother who looked up at me with a dirty look. The glare from the mother caused me no small amount of anger.

_What do you expect me to do about it? If I had a choice, I wouldn't be standing on the sidewalk, starving and dehydrated._

What happened next was out of my control. I heard the screech of car tires and many consecutive loud popping noises. Lost in my thoughts of anger, I had not noticed just how close they were. I turned my head to the left. Coming around the corner at ridiculous speed was a black convertible sports car with two individuals in it. The driver had a look of fear on his face and held onto the steering wheel for dear life. The second man was crouched in the back seat with some type of submachine gun. The driver was going too fast to take the turn, and begun to lose control.

I acted on instinct. I knew the mother and daughter were standing on the sidewalk behind me, and I knew what would happen if the car continued on its path. It would hit and possibly kill the mother and daughter along with the other innocent civilians on the sidewalk.. I did what had recently become natural to me.

I reached out my hand and created a magnetic field in the rear section of the car. I willed the steel in the car to stop. Had I been healthy or had more control over my powers, I might have been able to stop the car in its tracks. But the most I could do was alter its course and slow it down. I shifted the magnetic field to the right and forced the car to change direction away from the group of people on the sidewalk. The mother and daughter were safe. I, however, was not.

The car's front wheels hit the curb the suspension absorbed the impact. I couldn't keep the magnetic field stabilized. I gave up and attempted to jump out of the cars path, but failed. I landed on the hood of the car and vaulted over the windshield at an angle. I landed on the ground and blacked out, oblivious to the silver and blue car swerving around the corner being followed by a flying red-headed alien.

"Tell me why we brought him here again"

"Look at him Raven, he's obviously been on his own for quite some time"

"That's besides the point Cyborg. That does not give us reason to take him into our care."

"Why _did_ we bring him to the tower, Robin"

"I talked to the witnesses at the scene. They some interesting things to say about him. Things that make me question his humanity. Besides, now that he's in a stable condition, he can recover at the tower. We will be serving the city by leaving a bed open at the hospital"

"He hasn't woken in days, do we even know what is normal healing for him? I recover injury in a completely different way then the average person."

"I put him through every medical scan we have Raven, and he checks out as a normal human being"

"Yes, Cyborg, that may be true. But if you scanned Raven she would check out the same way"

I heard voices in the background and took a deep breath. The smell of sanitary fluids hit me like a wall. I assumed I was in some sort of medical facility.

"Our patient is awake"

I looked over in what I thought was the direction of the girl who spoke. I had a mild headache. I had a bandage wrapped around my forehead. I reached up and felt the area around my eyes. Everything seemed in order. I opened my eyes and tried to find some source of light. I saw nothing but endless black void.

"Excuse me. I might as well not beat around the bush." The authoritative male voice stated.

I felt movement and the creak of a chair as someone sat down in a chair to my right.

"I am Robin of the Teen Titans, and you are currently in our medical facility after being transferred from the hospital. You were there for three weeks while you underwent surgery and recovery after suffering from severe head trauma you received from being hit by a vehicle." Robin said.

The news of being unconscious for weeks from head trauma hit me pretty hard. At the time I asked the one question that was stuck in my head.

"Why can't I see anything" I asked.

The next sentence said by Robin would be etched in my memory forever.

"You are blind" Robin uttered.


	2. Depression

Legacy

Chapter Two: Depression

It had been two weeks since I discovered my eyesight was gone. I had many one-way talks with Cyborg during this time. He tried to explain to me why it was impossible for me to get cybernetic implants. Since I had last spoken to Robin, I had not said a single word to any of the Titans.

_"It doesn't matter what I try to do, the fact is that the nerve damage is beyond repair."_ he had told me.

I could tell from the tone of his voice that he pitied me and truly wished he could do something to help me. I suppose his long talks of why things couldn't be repaired was helping him more than it was me. Since I had last spoken to Robin, I had not said a single word to any of the Titans.

I had seen the Titans in the media, on toy store shelves, and on the side of cereal boxes. They were still complete strangers to me and I still felt uncomfortable in their presence. What choice did I have? It's not like I could have left if I tried. I had yet to leave the medical lab, which I had soon discovered was also Cyborgs domain. All of his body maintenance equipment and spare parts were stored in the lab, as well as all the other scanning utilities that the average hero organization would possibly need.

I had often heard the Titans talking on the other side of the door about my lack of emotion and about how I sat around all day. This was only partially true - I had spent the last two weeks slowly exploring the lab corner to corner. Slowly increasing the distance I traveled from my bed every day.

For some reason I felt brave today. Perhaps it was simply boredom, I'm not really sure. I had made the decision to venture out of the lab. I knew how the door functioned and had a slight idea of what lay beyond.

I walked up to the door, feeling along the wall. I found the keypad and pushed buttons until I heard the soft swish of the door opening, and air washed over me. I felt along the wall and started walking down the hall to the left. At least... I thought it was hall. I felt what I thought to be the wall of the hallway turning to the left. I turned to my left and walked directly into a solid metal plate.

The metallic noise echoed up and down the hall as I started to roll over to pick myself up off the floor. I heard the electric sound of the door opening.

"Eep"gasped a girlish voice behind me. "Are you injured"

I rolled over and onto my back. I could only visualize the face of the Tamaran who stood before me. I would never know what she truly looked like.

"Yeah, I think I'm ok." I spoke in the direction of her voice.

"Glorious, you are communicating again" Starfire helped me to my feet. "I am glad to see you traversing somewhere outside of Cyborg's lab."

"Yeah... I got bored." I sighed. "I decided to explore."

A shuffling of feet. "Perhaps I should escort you to the room of recreation"

"I guess it couldn't hurt" I told her. At this point I was willing to do anything that wasn't sitting by myself in a cold metal room.

Starfire pulled me out of the elevator and into what she had told me was the 'room of recreation'.

"Our guest has began to emit sound waves again" she exclaimed.

"Dude" I heard someone who could only be Beast Boy, to my right.

_'Dude?' This is gonna get annoying..._

"You _do_ exist" shouted the shape shifter. "And you talk"

"..."

"Or not..." Said Beast Boy.

"So..." spoke a deeper male voice from across the room. "Got tired of my lab"

"..."

"Are you sure he talks" asked Beast Boy.

"Yes, he talks" I recognized Robin's voice from somewhere nearby. "At least, he used to"

"Nah, I still talk..." I said.

"Glorious, let the conversing began" Starfire let go of my hand and started walking away. "To the sofa"

"Uh... Starfire..." I stood in what I comprehended as the void. "A little help here"

"Oh" Rushed footsteps followed by a soft hand grasping my own. "Come, Sit"

I felt the sofa behind me and sat down. I took a deep breath and sighed. I heard footsteps from around the room converge on my location and the thumps of bodies plopping down on the sofa around me.

"So" hummed Robin. "What is your name"

"Does it really matter" I shuddered. "I'd rather not say."

"Hmm" questioned Robin. "Why not"

"Certain people are trying to find me. I don't want people I know to possibly get hurt."

"I understand. People have their reasons, myself included." Sighed Robin. "Do you have another name"

"Another name"

"People must call you something, and if you're withholding your true identity-."

"People call me Rift." I shortly answered.

"Rift, dude, that's sweet" Beast boy exclaimed.

"Calm down, BB." Cyborg ordered.

Just then the alarm sounded. A klaxon sounded from what seemed like everywhere. Robin was the first to speak.

"What's the problem Cyborg" he asked.

"There was an explosion at the mall on Lake Street" Cyborg reported.

"This is bad... we need to help any survivors and find out who did this. Get there A.S.A.P Titans."

I sat in my place on the couch. I hung my head feeling even more utterly useless then I did before. I knew I would have been able to help find survivors had I been in full health.

_Wait.. I am in full health. This is as good as it gets._

I felt my way around the room and somehow managed to find the stairs. After nearly half an hour, I walked into Cyborg's lab and collapsed on the bed, feeling more depressed then I had in days.


	3. Ghosts

Legacy

Chapter Three: Ghosts

I awoke to a painful jabbing sensation in my ribs. I rolled over and buried myself in blankets. I took me hours just to fall asleep and I wasn't about to give up yet. I wanted to sleep all day long...

"Wake up man!"

"..."

"C'mon, I got some more tests I thought I should run."

"..."

"GET UP!" Cyborg yelled. He reached over with his metal hands and grabbed my blanket.

THUMP!

"Oops.. Hehe, Didn't mean to actually pull _you_ off the bed." He simpered.

"Uh... Goodmorning." I moaned in a dazed state while laying awkwardly on the ground. "Can the tests wait?"

"Stop whining and just get up..."he muttered. I heard his footsteps as he walked somewhere across the room. I started to stand up. Except there was something else my brain registered that interrupted me. I _saw _a misty white form move across my field of vision.

"Woah!" I fell backwards onto the palms of my hands. "H-hey, I saw something!"

The footsteps stopped. The white ghost froze in it's place. "You did?" he said. "But that's impossible, your optic nerves are fried."

"I saw something! I'm seeing it now! Actually, I think it might be you. It's like a faint, white misty blob!" I said in an over excited voice.

"Maybe its just a irritation of the damaged never endings.." Cyborg said. "I wouldn't get your hope up."

More footsteps. More motion of the white ghost. "There it is again!" The image halted, the footsteps halting with it. "I'm definitely see you Cyborg. Not very well though.." I squinted, trying to make the image sharpen.

"Listen man, I don't know what you are seeing, but it's not me." He fumed. "I told you it ain't possible."

I started to get angered. "I know what I saw Cyborg, you can't talk me out of it."

"Oh yeah? How many fingers am I holding up?" He snarled. I saw an extension form out of the white mist. I squinted, but still couldn't see anything. "I told you, man." Cyborg sighed.

"Just give me a minute.." I crept closed to the ghost. The edges started to gain focus. I walked closer until I could start to see a shape defining itself on the end of the extension. I finally got close enough to see how many fingers Cyborg was holding up. "Are you flicking me off? You asshole!"

"Uh..." Cyborg's arm retracted into the white misty mass and lost all definition. "I might have been..." Cyborg said, defeated.

"Th-This is great!" I practically yelled. After a few seconds I stopped celebrating. Uh... Do you still have to run those damn tests?" I asked.

"Well, actually... Those and more..." Cyborg told me.

The doors to Cyborg's lab slid open. A faint white ghost wandered in. I realized at this point that I could almost discern walls and large objects.

"What's the commotion?" Beast boy said.

Cyborg sighed. "Rift can see again..."

"Uh... I don't get it." I could only imagine the stupid look on beast boys face.

"Don't worry man. I have no idea what's going on either. I better call Robin down here.." Cyborg walked away.

"So...you can see, eh?" The Beast Boy ghost started flailing around psychotically.

"Yeah. You look like an idiot man." I said with a chuckle.

"Hey!" he said.

Once again the doors to Cyborg's lab opened. I saw yet another ghost. This one was different. It had a thicker band of white around what would most likely be its waist.

"What's going on Cyborg? How could Rift possibly have recovered any of his vision." Robin asked.

"I don't know.. But I think I have a hunch." Cyborg said.

I heard Cyborg rummaging though stuff in some random corner of his lab. "Aha!" He exclaimed after finding what he was looking for. "Ok, Rift. Look at me."

I turned my head in Cyborg's direction. "Ok, I'm going to set two things down on the table. When I point to one of them you tell me if you see it."

"Sure. I can do that." I said.

"What the ..." Beast Boy said in confusion.

"I get it ..." Robin said.

The white blob that is Cyborg pointed at one of the objects. "See this one?"

"No" I responded.

"How about this one?" He pointed to a white undefined shape in front of him.

"Yeah, I see that one." I said. "I don't get it, what could this possible prove?"

"You are seeing magnetic fields man!" Cyborg boomed. "All metal things, and all people, produce magnetic fields."

"So his recovery is linked to his powers?" Robin said.

"Must be.. I don't see how else it could have happened." Cyborg explained.

"Works for me." I said. _Maybe my powers are trying to repent for all the damage they've caused me already._

"Lets fire up the scanners..." Cyborg said. "This is gonna be a long day."


End file.
